Proverbs 18:10-12, Two Towers

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November 29, Proverbs 18:10-12

Mark 10:23-27; Acts 16:25-31 “What must I do to be saved? Trust in the name of the Lord.”

Two Towers

It is sober truth that souls of men are in danger. The world religions, man’s conscience, God’s Word, all attest to this. What an awful illusion to think otherwise! Yet, sinners, left to their own devices, don’t know their peril. They cry in scorn, “Who says we are lost?” But “saints tears are better than sinner’s triumphs!”

1. A Sharp Contrast: The name of the Lord is a strong tower (vs.10a). There is a True Tower and it is called the Name of the Lord. There is a False Tower. The rich man’s wealth is his strong city (vs.11). The only refuge the rich man has is his wealth. The contrast is between the tower of the righteous, where they run in and are safe, and the stronghold of the rich, whose walls are only a show piece, a facade (vs.11). One is Fact, the other is Fancy! Either your refuge is the true strong tower of the man of God or the imaginary high wall around the man of property. Is safe (vs.10) and high (vs.11) are the same Hebrew words, but only one is real; the other a figment of sinful man’s imagination. Is safe means truly safe, set on high in the Tower (Ps. 91:14), but the high wall of the rich isn’t there (Lk. 12:19-21)! Today the order is reversed for most. The Real is reduced to the imaginary, and the imaginary elevated to the Real! To the world the unseen is unreal, but to faith, the strong city of the rich is the unreal, a mere conceit, a fancy (Ez. 13:10). Conceit means a thing imagined like an idolatrous carving (Pr. 25:11; Ps. 73:7; Ezek. 8:12)! The Name of the Lord is the Lord Himself. He is the only Strong Tower souls in danger need (Ps. 18:2). Which tower are you trusting in?

2. A Strong Compulsion: The righteous runs into it and is safe (vs10b). No one plans to be lost! All want to be in the place of safety. The majority goes blithely on trusting in their own conceit until tragedy strikes. Only then will they look for a tower of safety, but where is it found? Certainly it must be sought (Mt. 6:33, 7:7). The rich seek it in riches, making gold their fortress, their god (Ps. 49:5-7), but how few rich men are righteous! As long as they trust in the strong city of their imagination, so long does their tower prove to be just a delusion (Isa. 2:11, 17). Those whom God has made righteous, run into it, because their eyes have been opened to see their peril. They run into it because they have nothing to bring, nothing to prepare, and nothing to loose but their guilt and sin. They run from the breaking storm to find the only place of safety (Isa. 57:15). They run because time is short. They know there is no protection in churches, in priests, in rituals, in theologies, but only in the Name of the Lord (Ps. 9:10; 18:1-3). “How deceitful is the defense of the rich man, who has his portion and trust in this world, and it will fail when he needs it most” (Henry). Oh reader, have you seen your need? The Name of the Lord is Jesus. He is the ever present Strong Tower, and all who come to Him in true repentance and faith shall be safe and set on high to dwell with Him in Heavenly Places (Mt. 11:28-30; Eph. 3:12).

Thought: “The world’s golden sands are quick-sands” (Watson).

Prayer: Give us the faith to run to the Strong Tower now.